The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how a contemporary social movement in Sweden uses social media as a way of mobilization. The case for this study was a social movement initiated by professionals working with unaccompanied minors. These professionals were frustrated with restricted asylum laws and wished to see more “humane asylum politics”. Since its start in the mid-fall of 2016, the movement has grown rapidly. By using a theoretical framework centered around the logics of collective and connective action frames we were able to depict how this social movement differ from the more familiar way of organizing social movements. The more familiar logic of collective action focus on formal organizations with a strong... (More)

The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how a contemporary social movement in Sweden uses social media as a way of mobilization. The case for this study was a social movement initiated by professionals working with unaccompanied minors. These professionals were frustrated with restricted asylum laws and wished to see more “humane asylum politics”. Since its start in the mid-fall of 2016, the movement has grown rapidly. By using a theoretical framework centered around the logics of collective and connective action frames we were able to depict how this social movement differ from the more familiar way of organizing social movements. The more familiar logic of collective action focus on formal organizations with a strong organizational coordination, a clear membership and a collective identity that demands the participant to appropriate a certain set of ideals. The logic of connective action, however, entails a loosely coordinated movement in which personalized action frames determine the form of the individual’s participation. The method consists of two qualitative methods; a netnographic method and a qualitative content analysis. This combination gave us the tools we required in order to achieve an understanding of the role of social media for this particular movement. The findings of this study show that the movement mobilize through different social media platforms. These platforms allow the participants to self-organize through social technology and to form their own personalized connection to the movement’s main objective by sharing and creating the individuals’ personalized expressions. (Less)

@misc{8901107,
abstract = {The aim of this study was to gain an understanding of how a contemporary social movement in Sweden uses social media as a way of mobilization. The case for this study was a social movement initiated by professionals working with unaccompanied minors. These professionals were frustrated with restricted asylum laws and wished to see more “humane asylum politics”. Since its start in the mid-fall of 2016, the movement has grown rapidly. By using a theoretical framework centered around the logics of collective and connective action frames we were able to depict how this social movement differ from the more familiar way of organizing social movements. The more familiar logic of collective action focus on formal organizations with a strong organizational coordination, a clear membership and a collective identity that demands the participant to appropriate a certain set of ideals. The logic of connective action, however, entails a loosely coordinated movement in which personalized action frames determine the form of the individual’s participation. The method consists of two qualitative methods; a netnographic method and a qualitative content analysis. This combination gave us the tools we required in order to achieve an understanding of the role of social media for this particular movement. The findings of this study show that the movement mobilize through different social media platforms. These platforms allow the participants to self-organize through social technology and to form their own personalized connection to the movement’s main objective by sharing and creating the individuals’ personalized expressions.},
author = {Beijer, Hanna and Hansson Aspman, Maria},
keyword = {Social movements,social mobilization,action frames,social media,social work},
language = {swe},
note = {Student Paper},
title = {#socialmobilisering : En kvalitativ studie om social mobilisering via social media},
year = {2017},
}